Bloody Courage Chapter 9
by Zack Gregson
Summary: Courage heads on with new resolve to face his greatest nemesis through the albeit unconditional aid of a nearby military operation.


**Chapter 9**

**Laika's Howl**

It was another 30 miles before they had reached the space base of Route 13, a cluster of metallic domed buildings within a tall fenced enclosure. A place that the military had come from to his home several times on the reports of strange creatures appearing, including the Mother Starmaker. Driving up to the large iron gate, he stopped at the single guard's gesture and waited for him to talk while the Starmaker hid under the seat, in case the military would recognise her. The guard looked at the strange purple dog with some distaste.

What's a mutt like you doin' here? This ain't a dog park.

Courage pointed up to the sky and made chicken noises. Thankfully the guard was not very dim in knowing his charades.

Chickens...up there? You mean those things on the news today and attacking Nowhere? A nod from the dog, before Courage pointed at himself and heaved his chest in the pose of a hero. You wanna help US??? Again the dog nodded. Well...guess since we haven't been doin' good ourselves, I guess we can't refuse. Okay, go on in. The dog sighed and drove on in, still amazed by either the sheer stupidity of the populace here, or by how they managed to accept such things as extra terrestrial chickens attacking from outer space, or dogs driving Buicks. But he didn't complain if it helped him. He soon had entered the base, which oddly have very few soldiers around and seeing around that there were four buildings clearly marked as being RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, ADMINISTRATION, MAIN CONTROL, and BUNKERS. The dog shrugged and drove on to MAIN CONTROL where he got out and also noticed in the middle of the enclosure was a large circular seal, presumably where the rocket was. He had the Starmaker come with him and they entered the building.

Within the Main Control building were several rows of computer panels that beeped and whirred many different colours of various coded instructions, each row manned by perhaps 5 or 6 workers, continuing to press buttons with meticulous care, as if the wrong button would obliterate them, which seemed to be close to reality in a place like this.

Courage walked towards the most official looking man in the room, a stocky looking man whose hat closed over his eyes, with a square chin as solid as a boxer's glove, his suit a dark green with several medals pinned on the left side of his chest. Hearing the padding steps of the dog, he turned around and looked down upon the creature.

What's this? Who let a dog in here? And why the hell is he wearing a squid on his head? Johnson! Did you set me up for this???

Courage got his attention and began to point upwards to the sky, making chicken noises, before pointing to himself and pointing an imaginary rifle (perhaps an air rifle) and shooting it off following the sounds of a chicken in death throes. The commander looked with intrigue and tried to wrap his head around what the dog was trying to tell him. While the guard was stupid about security but clever on charades, the commander was quite the opposite. This was why he was the commander and not a guard. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Huh? What? Something about a stick and turkeys...i dunno what you're talking abou-...wait a minute...I've seen you before.

The dog looked up nervously at the ending remark as the commander peered down at him with cold hidden eyes of sceptic scrutiny, lighting up a firework in his mind.

Wait...you're...you're that dog! YOU! Johnson! An officer strided to the commander's side and saluted as his superior said to him, is this not the same dog that was in that burnt old farm? The one with that sweet old Muriel?

Uhh...uhhh...y-yeah sir...yeah, that looks like him. Purple dog, black spot on the back, killed the owners and burnt the farm down.

MURDERER!!! Get him, men! Courage knew he was in trouble now, the commander's accusatory outburst throwing him off-balance with a wave of guilt as more officers came into the room from outside to deal with the escaped criminal. Say...his name's Steerage or something, right?

Uhhh, Courage sir, replied Johnson, I believe it was that, sir. He knew all about the case of Courage, because Johnson himself as well as the commander were part of the small army force sent in to investigate the disturbance. Police would've done the job but the Bagg farm became such a strange place of unnatural activity that it became quickly the military's authority to deal with any and all occurences that happened in its area.

Didn't the space chickens say they wanted Courage?

Wha...oh...ohhhh, the officer caught onto his superior's idea, yes sir, they did.

Well then...if we give them what they want even if it's not the same courage whatever the heck they want...then at least we'll be rid of another piece of shit from Nowhere. The dog hearing this all shivered in fear as the men stood at a reasonable distance. However the Starmaker said to Courage:

_This is it, Courage! We can be able to get at them now...if they want to send us against the chickens, then our goals are one and the same now! Let's make it look as if we don't want to, so they feel fulfilled, and then we will be launched towards them._

Courage, understanding the logic of the Starmaker, agreed mentally and so began his performance. With a sneering growl, he bent his arms like a gunslinger at high noon and watched the soldiers around him. They were all eager to be rid of him, none of them had sympathy for him, and already hated him before the incident of Bagg Farm with the cases of the Starmaker.

If you can, get that squid off his head, barked the commander, looks awfully like one of those squid-aliens from long back. The Starmaker however was not going to separate herself from Courage and so clung on tightly, more and more tighter until it felt the tentacles were crushing Courage's skull, making the dog grunt in pain and hold the sides of his head tensely, not knowing what she was doing. Slowly becoming unfocused by the pain, he began to swing out at the soldiers, who eventually piled in on him. The battle was not over though as the Starmaker bursted out an electric spark that sent three soldiers jolted back, and Courage used this break in the pile-up to grab one of the soldier's necks and strangle him, his paws strengthened by the adrenal pain he was feeling.

Eventually more soldiers came and with them came tasers. Taking no chances they immediately jabbed the prongs at Courage's unguarded back and set the power on full, making the dog dance a static-driven jig. In the increase of pain, he howled in anguish as he slowly began to lose consciousness, the Starmaker whispering words to him in a pained tone as she was affected by the taser.

_C-c-couurrraaaaag-g-g-g-ge...I...I...will...never leave you...We will make this together...let me bind with your mind...they can never separate me from you if I do not wish it so._

Soon Courage went unconscious, his body exhausted by the voltage that was shot through him, as the Soldiers made a few more shocks to make sure he was unconscious, before holsting their weapons.

Good work! We finally catch this son of a bitch and we can get him off this planet forever. JOHNSON! Prepare rocket number 53!

Yes sir! Johnson saluted the commander and so ran down the corridors to the scientists who would be able to prepare the launch. The launch room was soon set up in an hour. A powerful looking small room with a full panoramic view of a rocket within an underground silo-shaped structure, protected by clear but strong glass-like shielding. Impenetrable from either way. The rocket itself was a large white thing, not a space shuttle but a rocket that was not meant to be manned. A black nose on the end with the minimum thrusters and fins required to scoot it off into the stars. All along the walls were buttons and switches and gauges and dials, each one seeming to be as important as a cornerstone of the building itself. One misplacement, the entire place could very well blow up. Only the floor and ceiling were left bare. The commander came into the room with several scientists and soldiers. Courage had been placed into the rocket, as they saw, soldiers restraining the already unconscious dog with squid still attached to his head.

Sir, we were unable to pry the squid from the canine's head, it had integrated itself directly into the brain somehow.

Hmm...well forget it then, we just want those damn chickens to get lost, and if this is the way to do it...then so be it. He nodded to the top scientist who was manning the primary controls situated directly in front of the blast-protected window, as he began to run down the checklist with confirmations from the mechanics that contacted him via a headset he wore.

Fuel thrusters...ready. Calibrations...calibrated. Fuzzy dice...hung up...wait, what? Oh right right...no I told you it was over between us, now stop pestering me...it's all clear sir! The last remark was made to the commander, who merely nodded to continue. The scientist nodded in return and began to make the countdown.

10...9...8...7...6...damn it Darren, stop crying about it, you know it wasn't working out...5...4...ignition...2...1! And then came a thundering roar. At first it sounded muted and grumbling like a tidal wave from the distance, but like a tidal wave it became more and more furious in its force, louder and louder, the entire place beginning to shake violently. The only reason no one fell over was that they had done this before and knew how to handle their balance. Large fires blazed like slow dying stars underneath the rocket thrusters, fuelling clouds of smoke burning downwards, forced into the dirt whence it came, the rocket propelled upwards harder and shaking slightly from such power propelling it upwards. Soom enough it was slowly getting faster as it flew up higher and higher, leaving its large constructed stand and off into the sky, getting faster all the time, on a course for a main objective, destined to never return...hopefully.

The dog slowly reawoke within the spacecraft, bound tightly to a heavy box by thick black strips of industrial strength duct tape, the Starmaker still attached to his head tightly but also unconscious. She began to awake at the same time as him, rubbing his head with a warm tentacle when Courage wished he could rub his sore head if it were not for the bindings.

_Courage...we're on a spacecraft...we did it! They did exactly what we wanted and they're none the wiser for it!_

Yeah...I..I guess so...good plan you had there. He was still woozy from the taser shocks and felt odd little flinches of stray electricity now and again. Hey...no one's flying this, are they?

_They must have thought we were not worth a pilot, this must be an unmanned spacecraft, with coordinates to the ship._

Hmmm...but...how are we gonna get in, or be able to avoid being captured?

_That...is a plan we must consider while we are here. But first..._

The Starmaker began to slide her tentacles downwards to the tapes and pulled them off one by one with remarkable strength owing to her latent powers. She couldn't help pulling off some of Courage's fur in the process, making the dog wince in pain but managing to get up as they were ripped from him, his belly now a jagged line of naked skin with fur clashing against it. As he was freed from the tape, he got up gently and waddled over to the front of the ship, where the main guidance controls were, locked out to prevent any tampering with its duty to head directly for the spaceship of the alien poultry. The front window of the ship showed the two passengers the stars and the planets beyond. Courage merely watched with awe. He had been in space but he never had the time to sit back and watch it for its beauty. He noticed the Starmaker looking sorrowful as she reached her tendrils out towards the stars, suckers rubbing on the window. Courage placed a paw on her and rubbed her soothingly.

Don't worry...I..I'll do my best to save your family...like I did before."

She looked at him with eyes full of thankfulness and she hugged the canine, tentacles wrapping around his neck comfortingly, like warm rubber, and the dog in turn put his paws around her, hugging firmly for the while they were undisturbed. And then, hovering into view among the stars and appearing ever closer with an ominous shape spreading out among the empty space of their view...was the alien spaceship. Courage's destination.


End file.
